BU medical students face hunger to prove the point

Millions of Americans now face feeding their families on less than $1.40 per meal since since November's cuts to the federal food stamp program, officially known as the Supplemental Nutrition Assistance Program, or SNAP.

"For many families, that translated to 30 meals a month less that they're going to have available to feed their kids, to feed themselves. And now we're talking about cutting again," said Dr. Megan Sandel, MPH, associate professor of pediatrics and environmental health at Boston University and a pediatrician in the Grow Clinic at Boston Medical Center.

That's why a handful of Boston University medical students decided to walk a mile in their patients' shoes this month, taking what's known as the SNAP Challenge, where participants only eat food bought with the amount of money they'd get from SNAP for a week.

"Definitely in terms of trying to buy foods that are healthy, like fruits and vegetables, it was more difficult," said Fabian Chang, a second-year medical student at Boston University.

"The cost of unhealthy food has stayed the same over the last 20 years, but the cost of healthy food has doubled or tripled," said Sandel. "You can buy food on (SNAP), but you're not going to be able to buy healthy or nutritious food."

Instead, students faced plates filled with diet no-nos.

"It was a lot of carbs. I found that carbs were cheaper," said Chang.

"Many of them lost weight. Many of them talked about their lack of focus," said Sandel.

All left worried about more looming cuts to SNAP and the potential effects they would have on American children.

"You are going to see more hospitalizations, more developmental delays, poorer child health as a result of these cuts," said Sandel. "SNAP's a lifeline. This is an incredibly important program that we should be expanding, not cutting, because we know these SNAP cuts are going to harm U.S. children."

Those in favor of the cuts say the program needs to be overhauled since SNAP costs have more than doubled since 2008.